Monday, December 11, 2006

I was speed reading all my fav SEO blogs and newsfeeds today and I realised something a little sad. SEO is no longer sexy! It's just a boring, common-sense tribute to sensible coding.

When I started optimizing web sites, it was cutting edge stuff and didn't even have an acronym. I used to love bandying about the geeky jargon and watch people's eyes glaze over when I described what I did for a living. I felt like I was living in my own little James Bond movie, outwitting the evil black-hats, cleverly coding the search algorithms and rescuing poor webmasters from a life in the low SERPs. Watching a client website skyrocket from oblivion to the Top of the Pops within a few days was a total adrenalin rush.

Now it seems that every man, his dog and his dog's fleas are SEO experts. Instead of getting that fast rush from skyrocketing rankings, you've got to wait 9 months in the newbie sandbox. Instead of using my job description to get rid of horny drunks at parties, I'm finding I have to keep quiet about what I do, or face a two hour beer-breath lecture on the benefits of mod_rewrite vs URL parameter cleansing.

When did SEO become mainstream and boring? What can I do to liven things up in this white hat search world? Perhaps I should start a new naughty SEO blog along the same lines as the Naked News? Got any ideas people?

Thanks for the kudos, but I'm guessing the #2 spot is more due to alphabetical luck than anything else. But yes, I intend to release more of my naughty side on the unsuspecting SEO playground in 2007. Just you watch!